Slo-pitch president plays for world record

Hinton’s Mixed Slo-Pitch president will be competing this summer to break the world record for the longest softball game ever.

Terry Bancroft is one of three slo-pitch players from Hinton travelling to Leduc to play for the record July 8 to 14. The previous Guinness world record was also set in Alberta on July 5, 2009 in the village of Waskatenau. That game had started on June 30, 2009, lasting 115 hours and 3 minutes, with 721 innings.

Bancroft said they’re going to try and beat the record by playing 140 hours straight of slo-pitch. Hintonites Don Helm and Lance Cooper are also taking part in the attempted feat, she said. Players will sleep and eat at the stadium, playing full days and evenings. The tournament is included on the Slo-Pitch National summer schedule.

"I actually just seen it on Facebook," said Bancroft. "Well, I’m almost 50, maybe that’s the last thing I’ll do in slo-pitch."

Bancroft has been playing slo-pitch for 22 years. She learned to play fastball in Hinton when she was 12.

"My coach, Steve Powers, taught me to play ball," she said. "I played fastball all the way up until I started to have kids, and then fastball disappeared. I promised myself I would never, ever, ever play slo-pitch ’cause it was for old people." But the game has changed, she said.

"I’m definitely now a slo-pitch player obviously," she chuckled.

Slo-pitch is a common version of softball where the pitcher must throw underhand in an arc — six to 12 feet for local rules — and bunting or stealing bases is not allowed. There are 10 outfield players rather than 9. Hinton Mixed Slo-Pitch rules also allow player substitution at any time, with 5 women and 5 men in the outfield.

The current slo-pitch season is already well underway. Games are all played at the Mary Reimer Park diamonds, which are owned by Hinton Mixed Slo-Pitch. The league has been playing at the park for the past 15 years, said Bancroft.

This season has 26 teams competing, with team rosters consisting of at least 10 players. The season is short, lasting only until the end of June, with a final tournament at Mary Reimer June 21–23. But there are separate slo-pitch tournaments nearly every weekend in the summer, in places such as Brule, Grande Cache, Edson or Whitecourt, Bancroft said.

For new players who might have difficulty finding a team for the season, the tournaments are the best introduction to slo-pitch, said Lori Frattinger, another slo-pitch veteran.

A memorial tournament in honour of Bancroft’s mother was first held last September. Entry fees were donated to the Lions Sunset Manor to build awnings for residents. Nearly $18,000 was raised, Bancroft said.

The slo-pitch president is also part of a globetrotting team called the Sno-ballers, who travel every other winter to warm, exotic locations for softball tournaments. They competed this year in Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic, where they won the tournament’s B division. They also won best sportsmanship and were awarded a $375 credit for entry into another softball tournament. The Sno-ballers are planning their next trip for the winter of 2015.